I'm a bit behind the tech curve. I used to be one of those in our office that people turned to for technical help, and step by step, I've fallen behind the curve as technology has gotten away from me.
Ah well, çest la Vie, no?
But this new turn in technology caused me to drop my jaw. I will admit that I'm one of those people who watches reels online of this guy called The tow GOAT (greatest of all time), who drives a tow truck and repossesses cars. I don't know why, but I find it fascinating, including those where the offender chases after the car yelling, "please!, please!".
And now, Ford Motor company has filed for a patent on their new autonomous cars (read that as self-driving) that have a feature (feature?) included that allows their cars, if you are financed the Ford Financing and you are more than three months behind on your payments, for the car to self-drive itself back to their repo lot.
Before returning to the lot there are other steps that might be taken. Including; locking the owner out of the vehicle, playing annoying sounds, limiting features, like Air Conditioning, Power Windows and Power seats. But if payment isn't made... well...
This may just be a little too Big Brother for my taste. I have never defaulted on a loan, nor had my car repossessed, but this is a bridge too far for me. I would not purchase a car that included such a 'feature', and I'm not sure I'm comfortable doing business with a company that would include such a feature.
I do understand that those companies that lend money for the purchase of new vehicles have to come up with new and creative ways to protect their investments, but this, it seems to me, is just too damn far.
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UPDATE: It turns out that Ford has withdrawn their application for this new technology. Maybe there was too much public outcry?!
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